


better together

by Menacherie



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmarks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 14:57:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5590540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menacherie/pseuds/Menacherie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a person who wore their heart on their sleeve, Nick had a lot of soulmarks: his parents, his brother, his sister, they all had a spot on his body. Small marks, but marks all the same. Proof that they had made a mark on him, impacted him some way. His mark lit up on his mom’s elbow, on Marcus’ ankle. Proof that he was there on this earth, doing something right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	better together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cosmonautically](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmonautically/gifts).



As a person who wore their heart on their sleeve, Nick had a lot of soulmarks: his parents, his brother, his sister, they all had a spot on his body. Small marks, but marks all the same. Proof that they had made a mark on him, impacted him some way. His mark lit up on his mom’s elbow, on Marcus’ ankle. Proof that he was there on this earth, doing something right. 

In juniors those marks were all he needed to get by. His dad’s dark green thumbprint smear on his wrist was enough to inspire him to get through the day when a game was bad. His mom’s skyblue heart on the back of his own elbow was enough to remind him that he was loved. 

\--

Nick gave as good as he got usually. There were probably a lot of people out there with his turquoise lightning bolt somewhere on their body. Nick figured it was okay, since he had quite a collection of soulmarks all over himself too, in various shapes and sizes. 

\--

His best friend in elementary school had a really similar soulmark, a neon yellow lightning bolt that Nick still smiles at fondly when he sees it on his ankle.

His first kiss, Evie, had a pink violin that ended up on his shoulder the day she smiled at him. 

His other first kiss, David, left a set of crimson diamonds on his upper arm when their eyes met over a solo cup the first time he had been able to sneak out from under his dad’s watchful eyes to go to a party with the rest of the guys. 

\--

Nick always had a really soft spot for his goalies, they were usually the first teammate he really bonded with. He had several teammates’ soulmarks on his bodies, but most of them come from his goalies. They always had the weirder, more abstract marks, like a grey splash of paint, or an azure batwing, or a completely anatomically correct neon green heart. 

So the fact that the first soulmark that Nick picked up in Columbus was Bob’s, well that wasn’t much of a surprise at all. 

The lapis blue badge showed up around his heart the first time Bob offered him a tentative smile, and Nick smiled back. He could feel it inking in, especially so close to his heart and he quickly ducked his head. 

\--

Nick will admit that it was a little weird, that Bob’s mark was so close to his heart, and that it was a little bigger than every other mark on his body. If he were honest, and he usually was, it was actually a lot bigger than any other mark on his body.

\--

“What?” his sister asked him after training camp. “No new marks from training camp? I don’t believe it,” she said. Her husband’s teal blue comet shot through her eye and it used to be distracting, but Nick honestly doesn’t remember her without it. 

Nick avoided her eyes for a second and she laughed again. “Let me see,” she said. 

Nick sighed and shook his head, but unbuttoned his shirt. “Oh,” she breathed out when she saw it. “That’s huge Nick.” 

“Yeah,” he said, and ducked his head as his cheeks flushed. 

She didn’t say anything else about it. Just changed the subject to who he thought was making the team this year. 

\--

It wasn’t like soulmark placement was set in stone. His brother’s wife’s soulmark had been small and on his ankle. But for every person that said that soulmark placement didn’t matter, another person would say that it did. There were studies, but love was a subjective thing, and some people got the soulmarks of the person they hated over their heart. 

“I think it has to do with passion,” someone on the news was saying as they walked into the lobby of a hotel. Nick tracked the news ticker and then flushed and pressed a hand over his heart. A few of the other guys did as well, dopey grins on their faces. 

Bobrovsky tried catching his eye and Nick turned to look at his phone instead. 

\--

Nick started sneaking in the hugs at the end of the games they won. The first one was a little weird, everyone made a big deal of it, and then everyone expected it the next time. After that it was like a landslide. If he didn’t hug Bob it was a big deal. His heart constricted every time he hugged Bob and didn’t say anything. 

Bob’s smiles every time were like a drug though, and Nick couldn’t give himself a reason to stop anyways. 

\--

After bad games, when everything that could have gone right went wrong, Nick didn’t rub his thumb over his dad’s thumbprint anymore, or glance at his mom’s heart on his elbow. Instead he would rub his hand over his heart and sigh, thinking back on wins that involved hugs. 

On really bad nights that he doesn’t want to think about he would watch videos of Bob making awesome saves. 

His sisters have come to expect the video links in their text messages those nights. 

\--

In retrospect, he should have said something. 

“Soulmark,” Bobrovsky said, placing a hand over Nick’s chest. 

Nick’s eyes went big and he looked around. The language barrier alone was going to make this a hard conversation to have. He didn’t really want witnesses for something so private. 

“Uh, yeah,” Nick said, and bit his lip. He grabbed Bob’s hand and dragged him into Nick’s room down the hall. 

“Soulmark,” Bobrovsky, or Sergei repeated. 

“Yeah,” Nick said again. “When did yours show up?” 

“The first hug,” Sergei said, and Nick sighed and played with the hem of his shirt. 

“You are not happy with my soulmark?” Sergei asked. 

“No,” Nick said, eyes wide. He grabbed Sergei’s hand. “No, I, your mark is a gift,” he said, and then ducked his head. 

“Gift?” Sergei asked. 

“Seeing it makes me happy,” Nick explained and Sergei smiled and pulled Nick into a hug. It was nicer, without all the pads between them. He could feel the warmth from Sergei’s body, the way that Sergei pulled him in and hugged him tightly. Nick sighed and rested his head on Sergei’s shoulder. 

“Why you not say anything?” Sergei whispered in his ear. 

Nick shudders. “Didn’t wanna mess with anything,” he said finally, after a few moments of silence. “Everything was good the way it was,” Nick said. 

Sergei scoffed. “Happier now though,” he said. 

“True,” Nick said with a small laugh. He dropped his head back on Sergei’s shoulder. Distantly, Nick’s phone beeped at him, reminding him that it was time for his pregame nap. Nick reluctantly took a step back and grinned at Sergei. 

“Wanna nap with me?” he asked. 

Sergei’s face went the best sort of pink, and he nodded. Nick smiled back at him and took his hand and tugged him over to the bed, kicking off his shoes while he walked. 

“This is better than a hug,” Nick whispered into Sergei’s neck as they curled up around each other. 

“Much better,” Sergei agreed, his breath gusting against Nick’s hair. 

Nick drifted off to the beat of Sergei’s heart.


End file.
